Mitch Paone, Principle at Dia Studio (Design Notes Episode 5 Highlights)

Google Design2018-01-16

design#google#designers#interview#podcast#design notes#dia#motion#type#kinetic typography#motion design#type design#brand#branding#logo

18K views|6 years ago

💫 Short Summary

The video explores the balance between motion and design, emphasizing the importance of integrating interactivity and generative work. It also discusses the value of stepping out of one's comfort zone to explore new tools and techniques, highlighting the significance of improvisation and allowing unexpected elements to influence work. The parallels between jazz improvisation and design are also explored, encouraging creative freedom by understanding personal tastes and embracing parameters as guidelines.

✨ Highlights

📊 Transcript

✦

Importance of balance between motion and design in creating compositions.

00:40

Integrating design, interactivity, and generative work from the start is crucial.

Stepping out of comfort zone to explore new tools and techniques is valuable.

Improvisation and allowing unexpected elements to influence work is key for innovative outcomes.

Maintaining identity and structure in music and design while showcasing creativity within defined parameters is significant.

✦

The parallels between jazz improvisation and design are discussed by Mitch Paone, focusing on the freedom to make mistakes and own them with conviction.

03:34

Self-discovery in design is emphasized as crucial for understanding personal tastes and preferences, leading to a state of creative freedom.

Paone encourages designers to remove their critical selves from the process and embrace parameters as guidelines, similar to how jazz musicians approach improvisation.

00:00[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:13LIAM SPRADLIN: So I'm interested in the relative contributions

00:16that the motion and the type make

00:18to the finished compositions.

00:20MITCH PAONE: I think there is kind of an urge

00:22to just hey, let's animate this logo or let's make this move,

00:26but like, you've already figured out the design system.

00:28That's when it's detrimental to the work

00:30because it becomes an afterthought.

00:31But if you fuse design, and interactivity,

00:34and generative work right out the gate

00:36and treat them on the same playing

00:38field as type and graphic design,

00:40then you have set it up in a way that it's

00:44going to be more powerful.

00:45LIAM SPRADLIN: Do you worry about becoming comfortable

00:47with the tools?

00:48MITCH PAONE: I think as soon as you're comfortable with tools,

00:50get out and try something else.

00:52Once you dive into something new and you realize

00:55you're terrible at it--

00:56and like I do this daily--

00:57that's humbling.

00:58It's like, oh, my god.

00:59I really suck at this.

01:00And then you're like, wow, I'm not like this great designer

01:03anymore.

01:03I'm terrible.

01:04I've gotta get in code something and processing,

01:06and it's just a disaster.

01:08So what's special about this is it kind of brings you back

01:12to Earth.

01:13It's like this process of like, oh, I

01:14think we're feeling good about work, and then, oh, my god.

01:16I don't know what I'm doing.

01:18And then I'm like I'm grounded immediately.

01:20There's definitely this nature of being very improvisational.

01:24You know, like allowing unexpected things

01:27to happen is what's produced, I think,

01:29some of the favorite work that we've done lately.

01:32LIAM SPRADLIN: I want to touch on that too-- the notion

01:35of like learning to improvise or learning to create something

01:39that feels very dynamic and on the fly,

01:41but actually takes like a lot of expertise.

01:43MITCH PAONE: So part of my ritual,

01:45every day I play 30 minutes to 1 hour of music-- scales,

01:47and then I perform a song that I want to practice.

01:49Every time I've played, that song has been different.

01:51It's been faster.

01:52It's been slower.

01:52It's been with like a groove.

01:53It's been with a swing beat.

01:55You can switch it and change.

01:56But what's beautiful about this-- if you know the song,

01:59regardless of how I play it, people still

02:01recognize the song.

02:02The melody is there.

02:03The structure is there.

02:05And that is a parameter that defines an identity to music.

02:09That also defines parameters in design.

02:11And what I really like about that

02:14is that it is not restrictive.

02:16You can create a huge identity that

02:18has this inner kind of connective web

02:22of rhythmic changes, colors, and stuff,

02:25but people all know it's part of the same thing.

02:27LIAM SPRADLIN: Something that I've seen you talk about

02:29is this idea of analytical versus intuitive creation.

02:34What are those conceptually?

02:36MITCH PAONE: It's really easy to talk about this in the jazz

02:38context because when you're performing and playing it solo,

02:41like you're deciding those notes right there, in time.

02:44And you're going to make mistakes and do

02:46whatever you want.

02:47But I think the beauty of understanding jazz

02:49improvisation is that no one knows

02:51you're making a mistake if you play things

02:52with like a level of conviction.

02:53You're like, I'm going to go for this

02:55and I'm just going to try to own it.

02:56And I'm going to screw it up, but I'm just

02:58going to roll with it and just keep playing through it.

03:00And no one in the audience is going

03:01to know that you know that you totally missed the chord.

03:04So let's do the same thing like in design.

03:08And this gets into, I think, a deeper

03:10sort of personal level of understanding yourself,

03:13and what you like, and your tastes, and who you are,

03:15and what makes you tick.

03:16And I think there is a bit of self-discovery

03:18to get to a point where you can say,

03:20I'm going to remove my critical self out of the process

03:22and just make stuff and be free.

03:24At a certain point, once you've set up

03:26a level of parameters of like, say,

03:28the project needs this idea to be worked out,

03:32like let's just let that be the guide,

03:34but then try to become one--

03:37just like a jazz pianist or trumpeter or whatever-- when

03:40you're designing.

03:42[MUSIC PLAYING]

🎥 Related Videos

What vaccinating vampire bats can teach us about pandemics | Daniel Streicker

a16z Podcast | Things Come Together -- Truths about Tech in Africa

2024 TSCRS Applications of anterior segments diagnostic instruments in cataract surgery

a16z Podcast | The Infrastructure of Total Health

The Robot Lawyer Resistance with Joshua Browder of DoNotPay

NES Controllers Explained

🔥 Recently Summarized Examples

Uncovering Corruption From Health "Experts" | Scott Carney

The Forgotten Geometry: A New Path to Unification

From Tesla to DNA: The Science of Scalar Waves - Dr. Sandra Rose Michael - Think Tank E44

Bitcoin Holders...Watch Out for Sept

View original video